It stills seems as if we’re on the rim of breaking into Spring. It’s sort of like we’re one foot in its door and the other still standing in late Winter. This wind has been pounding on us far too long and I believe it’s time for Mother Nature to usher in real Spring. Yes, the daffodils are blooming along with a few other early perennials, but they seem to not look too happy. It likely due to the 18 degree overnight temperature we had several nights ago. I’m surprised they even survived that cold snap. I’m sure those of our general public who like being outdoors during our warm months are getting pretty tired of having to wear winter coats and jackets. Not to worry, real Spring will happen one of these days and we’ll be all the better for it.
Having been so busy these past weeks, I had to force myself to sit down for several hours and get some bill paid and accounting done. I certainly don’t want anyone to think Holtz Realty to be tardy in paying its bills. But as we all know, bills don’t get paid all by themselves and there’s no invisible hand that performs necessary accounting duties. I was in conversation with one of Mason City’s great minds this morning and we happened on the subject of doing pro bono work for others. We agreed that we are in the times where there are more who want to get as much as they can for free. Those people seem to have no concept of the value placed on one’s time. Getting valuable information for free that’s contained in the minds of the learned isn’t something that should be taken for granted. Years of college, volumes of research nearly memorized, and first hand experiences, all play a part in creating real value in advice. Too many times people think that it’s their right to have that hard earned information shared without payment, but if you look at many of the other professions that charge for simple house calls to fix something minor, then it should be considered the same. Be it tangible or intangible, when there’s a problem that can be corrected by another, then payment should be made to the one who’s helped to fix it. I went on to say, “I have absolutely no problem freely helping others as long as they’re not creating a selfish habit of it.” There’ve been a few over the years whom I’ve simply walked away from knowing that their words, “I’ll make it up to you”, never comes to pass. I’ll not forget one of those users coming to my office a number of years ago to list one of his homes and me saying to him most frankly, “I’m sorry. The way you and I do business is counter-productive, so I think it best you go and find another Realtor.” I actually left him speechless. He walked out and never to darken our office door again. My words may have seemed cutting, but after priorly being used far too many times, I thought it best to cut it off quickly and without debate. In the end, it was the best for the both of us.
I had a young gentleman tell me today that he had a premonition about one of his relatives homes selling. He said, “I had a waking dream that it will sell very soon.” I think he was expecting me to be surprised, but all I said was, “Some day I’ll share with you some of those premonitions that have come to pass with a few of my listings over the years.” I teased him and said, “Well you know, there are people that claim to be clairvoyants, so perhaps you’re turning into one of those out of time steppers.” He laughed and said, “I’ll let you know if it does happen and we’ll both have something to talk about.” Yes, sometimes there are things that happen which we just can’t explain and leave us to wonder all the more about the whole scheme of it all.
